Coming soon to an Amazon near you: the Kindle Paperwhite
The Kindle Paperwhite is coming out on September 30, and although I don’t know that it’s “the best device for reading, period,” as the ad claims, it seems like a pretty nifty gadget nonetheless. As this reviewer says, it represents an improvement over an already-good product.
The Paperwhite is available for pre-order, and (here comes the pitch, of course) if you want to buy one you can click on the above link or on any of my Amazon widgets—pretty please!—so I can get a cut of the action.
I cannot tell a lie; I don’t use one. I’m a bookish Luddite. But I’ve often thought that, when my chronic arm injuries were at their worst and I had great difficulty holding a book and turning pages (I still am reluctant to hold a book for very long in the conventional way; I prop it up on a countertop or table when I read), a Kindle would have been absolutely wonderful.
One advantage of the Kindles is adjustable font size. That helps a lot if your eyes aren’t the best. You can also take books with you on a trip without stuffing a bunch into your suitcase, that helps keep things simple.
I never thought I’d be anything but a real-books kind of girl, but Mr Whatsit gave me one of the first-generation Kindles several years ago, and now I wouldn’t be without one. (He also has one now, and so do all all of our children.) We just got back from a trip in which packing enough vacation reading for two bookish people — which used to mean lugging a large, heavy tote bag — was instead a simple matter of sliding two slim little Kindles into our carry-ons. And as you guessed, the thing is a life-saver when one is laid up. A couple of years ago I spent several weeks convalescing from a serious injury. The Kindle was perfect for somebody who can’t hold anything heavy or stay awake for long — if you fall asleep reading, you won’t even lose your place!
There’s also the simplicity of the thing. We’re in an empty-nest, downsizing phase of life, and we’ve been trying to shed some of the burdensome possessions we’ve accumulated over a long-married lifetime. The Kindle allows us to keep the “real” books that we love enough to share a house with, get rid of the rest — and yet own plenty of books and buy new ones when we choose to, for which we’ll never have to buy bookcases or hire a moving van.
Kindles aren’t better than books in every way — unless it’s safely stored in its case, it’s not really a good idea to drop one. Mine broke on the way home from that trip last week — but even that became not such bad news when I got home to the perfectly-timed announcement of the new Paperwhite.
Neo, I had a badly damaged nerve in from my neck through my left arm this past spring and my Kindle was wonderful to use. I still have to prop a real book up if I am reading for any length of time but the Kindle was so easy to place on a pillow on my lap and hold and page with my right hand. Borrow one sometime and give it a try. Also I still love books made from trees and I never want to be without my books.
Old Texan:
Well, I said “I don’t use one”—but I actually do own one. I’ve never gotten around to loading much on it, although I keep meaning to.
I have an old Kindle that I love for travel. It’s also great to take with you if you might be stuck in a waiting room. The new Paperwhite is appealing because it allows you to browse through the book or go back and reread a section without loosing your place. I think I will be ordering one.
I got a Paperwhite for a teen friend this summer because he would not be tempted to play games or check facebook during reading time. Apparently, parents can control which of their own Kindle books can be downloaded onto the kids.
They say you can get magazines, but I would like them to show how they display on the Kindle.
I didn’t own an e-book until last fall, when a relative, who loves her KindleS, gave me a used Kindle. I then bought a Nook for $59 during the Black Friday sale. I have become an e-book fan.
As an owner of both a Kindle and a Nook, I much prefer the Nook. The Nook can change fonts on PDFs. The Kindle cannot. All the Kindle can do with PDFs is zoom in and out- which gets old in a hurry. I also prefer the page numbers on EPUB.
I can easily organize my books and docs in folders on a Nook. While some have told me I can do the same on a Kindle, I haven’t yet personally experienced such a capability.
While Amazon has a better selection- and a website that is much more user-friendly then the Barnes and Noble website- that doesn’t matter much to me as most of my books come from Project Gutenberg.
While I have read a lot of e-books on my devices, as the saying goes, my eyes have been bigger than my stomach, I have enough books on my Nook and Kindle to keep me busy for years and years.
Perhaps the new Paperwhite will be able to change fonts on PDFs.
My Paperwhite Kindle has an illuminated screen, which means that I can read in a dark room without waking my wife.
Oh Neo, I fought against it for years. I LOVE books, real books, the smell and feel of them and was certain I would not enjoy a Kindle. My daughter sent me one for Christmas two years ago and I have hardly bought a ‘real’ book since. I love it! I think you would as well were you to give one a try. The enlarged fonts, the on demand dictionary, never lose your place, I could rave on. And so very easy to handle and pack, tote along hundreds of books if you choose, buy another anytime, anywhere…..they are great!
Oh…and thanks for the ‘hint’. For my money never feel hesitant about about posting them! I had planned all along to order a new paperwhite but hadn’t as yet….when I read your post I clicked your link and, hopefully, gave credit for the sale to you! I never remember to do so it seems but if you slap it in front of my face as a reminder….you get the credit!!
I have a Kindle, which I tend to use only when I travel. I still like the look and feel of the real thing. I’m sure that’s a habit difficult for those of us of a certain age to break. I’m glad I have the choice. To be able to carry a month’s worth of reading in a Kindle is a true blessing when on the road.
I’ve been thinking about the new Paperwhite as well. As I’ve gotten older I’ve developed a bit of a dislike of paperback books. They take up a lot of space and I’m very hard on them because I read off and on all night (insomnia) often break their backs and sometimes fall asleep and roll over onto a open book, often doing some harm. I’m thinking a Paperwhite might be more carl-proof.
I love my Kindle. As others above have already testified, it is a joy to be able to carry a library in my pocket, especially when travelling. I had to fly back East this summer and my Kindle helped me hold onto my sanity despite all the TSA, the airline and Mother Nature could do. When our flight back was held on the tarmac at Dulles for over two hours because of bad weather, I kept my cool because my Kindle took me away from a horribly cramped economy class seat off to Cold Comfort Farm. Ironically, about half way throught this delay the captain came on the PA system to thank us for our patience. Then he announced that as a gesture of thanks he was going to…(here I looked up in hope, thinking: “Oh boy! Free drinks!”) but alas no, it was free video on the inflight video system.
Another thing that I prize about my Kindle is the instant gratification aspect. When I find a book I want to read in the Kindle Store I can be reading it within seconds.
By the way, Neo, as a small token of my appreciation for all your work on this blog, I do use it as my default access point to Amazon whenever I order from them (whether ebooks for my Kindle, print books or anything else). It is no great amount but I hope it comes under the Widow’s Mite principle.
Star Trek reading pads, took about 30 years to develop.
I have a chronic neurological disorder that makes me very weak, too weak sometimes to lift some of the large books I have lying around. The Kindle, at slightly over 10 oz., has been a life saver. I have the old Paperwhite but will probably buy the new one, too.
However, I lead a monthly book study that relies heavily on being able to note the literary structure of a passage, focusing on its immediate and larger context, noting parallelism, word usage, etc. I never use my Kindle for this study. Yet almost all of my students these days follow along on a phone or a tablet where they cannot see the whole text but just a small window on the text. They no longer see whole pages. I wonder sometimes how effectively they are able to follow my arguments.
I’m on my second Kindle, a Fire HD. I’ve loved em since I got my first one, which I rolled on to during a hospitalization. If you are ever in a similar situation keep em under the pillow rather then under your arm.
I can buy books on a whim as the prices are so low and Amazon loves me! Books I’ve wanted for years are immediately accessible.
It is now possible to read three books at once, and never loose my place! And never overload my back pack.
My chronic illness means thet I spend a lot of time in the NY Subway and in doctor’s offices, except I’m on a starship or the deck of a destroyer as I wait my turn.
Now don’t get me wrong, Art books can only exist in a dead tree format, but for all the rest I love having a bookcase in my hand.